’Humans only fight when they enter gates. If they aren’t in a Gate, they can’t grow at all. Alright, I guess the first place to start would be the five rulers. I’ll make Katarina and the other Rulers fight stronger opponents. I should be able to improve the level of all the Rulers in a month or so, then I should have at least three TITANs. We can work on getting the other Ranks from the mages in my guild.’
Jason nodded to himself as he decided on his course of action, and he finally turned and told C’thlyanu that he understood what he had to do. C’thlyanu was happy that things had finally been cleared up, and it wasn’t long before the council meeting was brought to a close so that they could finally return to their own worlds.
....
Outside the council meeting room, Riyala was waiting patiently with her hands held in front of her respectfully as Jason approached! The council meeting had ended a few minutes ago, but Jason had been held back by many members of the council, as well as the other candidates that had been competing against him for the position of Overlord, so that they could discuss the Aqualith stone and how Jason intended to distribute it! Jason had promised that he would inform all of them when Earth was ready to open trades, and they all handed Jason their magical communication runes so he could contact them once he was ready. Jason had a tired look on his face as he came out of the hall with Gina and Hesabeth following beside him, and he was laughing at something Gina said, but once Jason saw Riyala, his face brightened even more, and he opened his arms to her with a wide smile!
Riyala had been trying desperately to hold herself back since she wanted to greet Jason with the respect he deserved as the new Overlord of their Domain! But the moment Riyala saw that smile on Jason’s face, it was impossible for her to resist! Riyala threw all her self-control to hell, and she immediately ran to Jason and jumped into his arms with a wide smile!
"Jason!"
Jason laughed as he twirled Riyala around happily, and he allowed Riyala to take his face into her hands and place multiple kisses all around his cheek and forehead before finally placing one deep kiss on his lips! Riyala pulled back a few seconds later, and she smiled at Jason with the proudest look in her eyes!
"I heard the good news. Congratulations, Jason."
Jason’s smile widened once again and he gave Riyala another quick kiss before thanking her and finally putting her down. As she came down, Riyala noticed Hesabeth giving her a pointed look from the side, and Riyala quickly composed herself and gave Hesabeth a respectful bow. But Hesbeth just sighed and reminded Riyala what she had told her before.
"You don’t need to be so tense around me. We’re part of the same family now, remember."
Riyala still felt a little uncomfortable with the abnormal friendliness from Hesabeth, but she tried her best to keep her composure, and she nodded in acceptance! It wouldn’t be easy for Riyala to forget all the stories she had heard about Hesabeth from some of the worlds around her! Hesabeth was one of the most notorious members of the council, and she was the one person that Riyala had been warned about multiple times not to make an enemy of! So, for Riyala right now, seeing Hesabeth act this way with her was like someone from Earth seeing a known terrorist smiling at them and joking around like they were friends!
But Riyala knew that she had to get used to this! Hesabeth was now a part of Jason’s family, and that meant she was a part of Riyala’s family as well, and since they were going to be seeing a lot more of each other in the future, Riyala couldn’t keep being so tense around Hesabeth!
Hesabeth smiled when she noticed the obvious tension in Riyala’s body. Hesabeth honestly wasn’t surprised since she knew the sort of reputation that she had in the Primordial Expanse! Hesabeth didn’t really care for what other people thought about her, so she always ignored the peasants, but Riyala was different. Unlike those peasants, Riyala was a part of Hesabeth’s family, and Hesabeth knew that Jason would like for all of them to get along. Hesabeth folded her fan and she smiled at Riyala before saying:
"I heard from some of my associates that the world of Radagan is currently looking for new trade routes to ship out larger exports of Dragonstone. Is that correct?"
Riyala was taken aback by the sudden question, but Riyala managed to keep herself calm, and she nodded to Hesabeth’s question. Hesabeth hummed and said:
"It is beneath me to involve myself in such dealings since I would normally leave them to my lessers, but I suppose I must make an exception since you are family. You see, a few of my refining factories have been going through a shortage of fire-based magic stones recently. We’ve been utilizing activated Flaming Salamander cores, but the cores lack efficiency and burn out too quickly. I think your dragonstones might be a better substitute than the salamander cores. I shall grant you the honor of supplying me with these minerals. Do you accept?"
"Y-Yes. Of course!"
Riyala felt a sudden rush of excitement pouring out from her heart once she heard Hesabeth say this! It was true that Riyala had been trying to secure more trade routes with worlds around their domain for a long time now because the Dragonborn of Radagan needed to make more money to rebuild the infrastructure that had been destroyed by the tyrant Sovereign! Radagan had already been selling as much Dragonstone as they could, but they couldn’t force the worlds around them to buy more Dragonstone than what they needed, so they needed to find more buyers! But Riyala never thought that she would manage to get one of the council members to offer her a business deal! If Riyala managed to complete this deal, then her people wouldn’t have to worry about money for a long time! Hesabeth smiled when she saw the tension on Riyala’s face changing into an eager expression, and Hesabeth turned to Jason and spoke to him in a kind voice.
"I’ll be stealing dear Riyala here for a while, darling. This will take some time, so you may go ahead of us. We will join you later on Earth. I hope you don’t mind."
Jason scoffed in amusement, and Jason couldn’t help but wonder what Hesabeth was really playing at here! Hesabeth was a very cunning woman, so Jason was sure that Hesabeth had some sort of ulterior motive. But Jason knew Hesabeth wouldn’t hurt Riyala, so he leaned forward and gave Hesabeth a soft kiss before he narrowed his eyes playfully.
"Be nice to her."
Jason said this in a hard voice, but the playful look in his eyes made Hesabeth laugh softly! Hesabeth flicked her fan open to cover the slight blush that was already spreading on her cheek, and she gave Jason a loving smile before she turned to Gina and gave her a hug.
"Keep an eye on him for us."
Hesabeth whispered this to Gina, and Gina smiled and said that they would be fine. Jason was a trouble magnet, but they were just going home, so there was no way they would run into any trouble. Hesbeth nodded as she finally turned to Riyala and told her to come along!
"Let us find a more conducive setting to discuss the finer details. We have quite a lot to cover."